The Whole Truth Baldacci Novels & Stories

He wanted to scream, to cry—but something in him stayed cold, focused. He watched as the bald man pulled out a phone and made a call. “It’s done,” he said. A pause. Then: “Yes, sir. They didn’t talk. No one else saw.” Another pause. “Understood.” Then came the order that would burn itself into Jace’s soul forever: “Make it look like an accident.” The bald man hung up and walked to the kitchen. Jace watched through the crack as he grabbed a bottle of vodka, shattered it on the floor, and began splashing it around the apartment. The lean one pulled out a lighter.

Alwin sneered and asked, "Mr. Zellman, do you think I'd be bold enough to lie to you?" Aldrich was startled. It was true—since he was at the Soul Awakening stage, Alwin would never dare to lie to his face. "The truth is that this young man named Ballard was sent by Dramon's Department of Defense. If I'm guessing correctly, he's probably their special agent. "Acting must be a basic skill for him as an agent. That's why you don't need to be nervous, Mr. Zellman," Alwin said bluntly. Realization dawned on Aldrich. Even if it really was the Blessed Child, he had grown up in the secular world. The Holy Grandia was a new, completely unfamiliar environment for him.

"I hope you are telling me the truth, healer. Because if I find out that you have betrayed my trust, the consequences will be dire." Eliza bowed again. "I understand, Alpha. But I assure you, I have not revealed anything to Casey." “Eliza, I want you to remember one thing very clearly. I am Alpha Alvans and I can tell when you are lying and when you ain't. Eliza, I know you are planning to betray me. If not, what did you mean telling Casey that the story behind her nanna's death is different from what she heard." Eliza gasped, covering her widened mouth with her palm, realizing that she had been caught. “Ac.. actua.. actually, Alpha Alvans, I wasn't telling her anything like that. I was only

I look right back at him, the corner of my mouth curving up into a sharp, humorless smile. "What?" I ask, "He deserved a warning. It makes the fall so much more satisfying when they see the ground rushing up to meet them." Let him look. Let them all look. The woman Marcus Whitfield tried to bury just called him from the war room of the most powerful crime family on the East Coast and told him exactly what was coming. In forty-eight hours, the world will know the truth. And Marcus will learn what every man in this story should have known from the very beginning.

*Edgardo’s POV* It has been an intense couple of days, to say the least. I definitely don’t know what sleep is anymore. Alberto has been losing his shīt. More than usual, of course. He has been killing anything and anyone that he feels knows something or doesn’t about his goddaughter’s kidnapping. He doesn’t give a shīt at this point. He just wants to find her. By the time that I arrived back at the estate with the guys, Alberto and Blanco were already there. I put the SUV in park and leaned my head back against the headrest.

“That is not a question for the profile.” “You keep deciding which truths deserve publication only after they become uncomfortable.” “And you keep pretending every question is professional because it helps you ask the personal ones.” Julian’s pulse changes. Through the glass, two hotel employees pass with a cart of folded linens. Their voices drift faintly through the door, ordinary and distant. Julian waits until they are gone before he speaks again. “I am asking what a person owes another person when the arrangement stops being honest.” Adrian leans back slowly. “As a CEO?”

I stood in the war room, turning over everything Whitfield had told us the day before, the tape’s frightened, honest voice still echoing in my thoughts alongside this new, colder version of the same woman. “She’s not going to stop,” I said slowly. “Not because of guilt, not because of grief finally catching up to her. If anything, learning the truth is finally out there is making her more dangerous, not less.” “Cornered animals usually get more dangerous, not less,” Reyes said grimly. “That’s exactly what we’re dealing with now. Not a woman carefully executing a thirty-year plan. A woman who understands her one remaining protection has just been stripped away, and who’s decided the only resp

“I’m Alec Blackwell.” “The Alec Blackwell,” she whispered, as if saying it too loud would shatter her. He stepped closer. “CEO of Blackwell Industries. Billionaire. Founder of the law firm you thought was just some ghost entity. The same one that bought out the company you used to work for.” Zara turned slowly. “And all this time… the broke guy with the holes in his shoes? The one with sad stories and broken ramen noodles in his cabinet—that was a show?” “No,” Alec said softly. “That was the truth I wanted. Stripped down. Real.”

“What are you really after, Maximus?” “You can trust me,” I said, holding his gaze. “The Baldocchis’ are already crumbling. They’ve suffered loss after loss. I’m doing exactly what needs to be done to end them. Gianna… she’s just another layer of destruction—one that cuts deeper. One that breaks Nicholas Baldocchi from the inside out.” He tilted his head, studying me with those cold eyes of his. The silence stretched between us and I knew he was trying to peer into my fucking soul and sniff out any signs of weakness or…betrayal.

Case stepped forward, his eyes shifting back and forth with hostility. My brothers were honest men who ran their pasta company. They worked long hours and made a quality product that had been in our family for generations. Even when the price of goods rose, they did their best to keep their product at the same price for customers. They made a handsome living from the enterprise, but at the cost of their blood, sweat, and tears. Honest men like them would have no idea who my captor was. They wouldn’t understand the true ramifications of the situation. “His name is Balto. I don’t know his last name.” Case’s entire body slackened noticeably, like that name meant something to him.